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I chuckle, remembering Jett’s comments about not wasting time on boys. “He was … so good. I can’t even begin to tell you.”
“I’m not giving you specifics!” I cry. What we shared is buried deep in my heart, memories I will cherish forever.
“How did you do it? I mean, you were always falling apart around him. How did you manage to get naked in front of him?”
Eliana makes me laugh. Given who I was around Jett, before I left, I can see where she’s coming from. “It was the dress,” I say, though the memory of Jett’s hungry gaze when I wore it sends a shiver through me. “And the stilettos. I felt ... powerful.”
“Dress, stilettos? That dirty, sexy man,” she teases, eyes gleaming mischievously. “What a combo. So, what now? How did you leave things?”
I take a deep breath. “That’s the thing ... I don’t know where we stand.”
Eliana’s expression sobers. “You don’t know?”
“We had plans to spend a few days on a private island,” I explain. “But his father showed up out of nowhere, and everything fell apart. Jett thinks it was intentional, to keep us from—” I pause, unsure how to phrase it.
“From being together?” she finishes for me.
I nod. “We stayed away from each other after that. His father’s intense. He sees right through you. I couldn’t go near Jett, and he didn’t come near me. We both just retreated. Brooke was so disappointed in the car just now, and honestly, so was I.”
Eliana shakes her head. “That man of yours needs to grow a backbone when it comes to his father.”
“He’s not mine,” I say softly, the words cutting more than I expect.
Her hand rests on mine. “Car, if you think this is over, you’re wrong. Men like Jett don’t let go of something—or someone—they truly want. I’ve been so angry with him in the past, for how he’s treated you, and how badly you’ve longed for him. It was painful to see, and I wasn’t gonna sit around and do nothing while a big shot, arrogant, big dick energy billionaire had you running around after him—”
“He did not have me running around after him.”
“Buying sexy lingerie for his girlfriends? Booking their vacations and dinners, while I knew your heart must have been breaking.”
She doesn’t know what I know, that he did these things partly to keep me at bay. But I love that she’s my wingwoman and she has my back, no matter what. Billionaire or not.
Eliana pauses, her soft brown eyes glistening under the light. “But looking at you now, something’s changed, and I can see he’s brought you a lot of happiness. You look so different. Not just sunkissed and golden all over. But … you’re radiatingsomething.All that sadness that sapped your spirit after your mom passed, it’s gone, hon. There is no dark cloud hanging over you—that’s not to say you don’t miss your mom or—”
I nod, loving that she’s always so careful and mindful when she’s talking about my mom. She throws her hands up in the air. “I don’t know if it’s happiness, or the fact that you’ve had lots of great sex, or … even if it’s love.”
I look away and let her words sink in.
Love.My heart swells. I feel the space inside my chest grow bigger and bigger. My mind flickers back to Jett’s quiet confession that he’d had feelings for me for years. How he used his arrogance to push me away, how he buried himself in meaningless relationships to avoid the truth.
“Babe, you’ve gone all quiet.”
My eyes well up and I suddenly feel like crying, feeling like we already had our ending but didn’t label it as such. “I don’t know what happens next. I don’t know if there is anext.”
Eliana’s eyes soften. “From what you’ve told me, it sounds like there most definitely is. His daughter is the most important thing in the world to him, and the three of you spent time like a family. I don’t think your boss would risk his daughter getting used to that if it was only fleeting.”
Her words give me something to consider. She has a point. “I don’t know. I just don’t know anymore. His father turning up unexpectedly ruined everything.”
“From what you’ve told me about that old man, that’s the role he always plays, doesn’t he? I don’t think Jett will let his happiness get in the way of whatever his father dictates. From what you say, it sounds like you had a fantastic time. Jett, too.”
I hope so. Last night Jett was pensive. As was I. We both had so much on our minds, a brooding heaviness that overwhelmed us. Making love didn’t seem like an option.
Eliana stands up, a grin on her face. “Let’s eat. I made your favorite quesadillas.”
I love this woman. “You always know how to cheer me up.”
She winks at me. “That’s what I’m here for. Bianca is coming over later, so you’ll have to tell us your dirty bedroom stories all over again.”
But as I dig into the familiar comfort of melted cheese and crispy tortillas, my mind is miles away—with him.